Financial Times: Russian relief at delay to Europe shale boom

At a dinner late last year, Vladimir Putin was asked how big a threat the development of shale gas in Europe posed to the energy exports of Russia’s Gazprom to the continent. Russia’s then prime minister grew agitated.

Grabbing a notebook, he sketched a diagram to illustrate hydraulic “fracking”, the controversial technology used to unlock shale gas reserves. Jabbing at it with his pen, Mr Putin warned that once Europeans understood its environmental risks – potential damage to groundwater – fracking would face a clampdown.

Executives of Gazprom were using similar words. Beneath the defensive bluster seemed to lurk genuine concern that “unconventional” gas could become the same game-changer for Europe’s gas industry as it has been in the US – sharply reducing its need for imports.  MORE